Nestle buys majority stake in organic food company Terrafertil

A Nestle company logo is pictured on a bar of Milky Bar chocolate in Manchester, Britain.
Thomson Reuters
ZURICH (Reuters) - Nestle said on Friday that it has bought a majority stake in Terrafertil, a company selling natural and organic plant based foods.

The move is the latest step by Nestle to expand its profile in healthy foods as it seeks to offset weakness in the packaged foods sector.

Nestle did not say how much it was paying and how big a stake it was taking in the company, which was founded in Ecuador in 2005, before expanding in the rest of South America and Britain and the United States.

As part of its health ramp up, Nestle spent $2.3 billion (1.65 billion pounds) on Canadian vitamin maker Atribum Innovations in December. It also announced deals for Sweet Earth vegetarian foods and Blue Bottle coffee last September and Chameleon Cold-Brew coffee in November.